Prioritize. Time management isn’t about scheduling every second of your day and making blocks of time for activities. Being on a strict schedule can be stressful and in my experience you eventually get sick of it and just waste a whole day or more slacking off. So don’t schedule every little block of time, leaving predetermined times for yourself. Try to prioritize your responsibilities and go through the list when you have time so you can decide to use the time wisely.

Did you eat?

Is your homework for the day done?

Did you go to the gym?

Is your reading for the week done?

Have you done anything to take care of yourself today?

Have you spent time with friends or family?

Is it nap time?

You need to check in with yourself, with questions like these every once in a while. Time management is about balance; you don’t want to juggle your over load of responsibilities you want to balance them. Yes, either way there is a likely hood you will drop them but balancing is a lot let tiresome than juggling.

You can use your time wisely without being constantly booked. Just work out a system to get done what is most important first. But while you’re doing this, remember that even if you don’t necessarily have the time in the day to slack off you need to make time to relax and be yourself. It doesn’t matter what you do during that time (hit the gym, sit outside, yoga, meditation, paint your nails, with Netflix, read a book) but make sure you leave time for yourself. Without taking time for yourself you over schedule and eventually your other priorities become too heavy and you crack under the pressure.

Don’t feel bad about taking some time for yourself, you need to relax in order to handle all the stress effectively. However, choosing to waste time may stress you out even more. You need a healthy balance. Take a break for yourself but don’t watch Netflix right after class, get some important stuff done so when you get absorbed into your show and can’t stop you don’t dig yourself into a hole.

You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of your other responsibilities.

Sometimes a break is all you need to come back refreshed and get everything done.